Hard drive issues after update 10.10.3

Question also posted here:Hard Drive Issues (Both new and old)
I'm trapped in a HDD nightmare with my MacBook Pro mid-2012.
I updated to Yosemite 10.10.3 (with the Photos app). A couple of days after the update, I was watching a movie on my TV screen via HDMI. In the middle of the movie I removed the HDMI cable from the MacBook Pro and everything freezes. I forced shut down (Note: My HDD was encrypted). After I forced shut down, I tried to turn on and the loading screen would never stop loading - like, 14 hours stuck with the progress bar. Since I have backups, I decided to access DU and format my HDD. I tried everything. For real. Every command line I could type on Terminal to format, repair, erase and/or partition. I read almost every issue-related questions on the forums and stack exchange groups for a week (even posted my issue here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/181090/erasing-and-partitioning-hard-dr ive-from-internet-recovery?noredirect=1#comment215695_181090).
So, I decided that it was a HDD failure and bought a new one.
I bought the Seagate 1TB SSHD Hybrid - ST1000LM014. Installed the new fresh disk and guess what? All those same problems again. I´m not able to restore from Time Machine because it doesn't recognize the disk in the restore page. But the disk is recognized in the DU. When I try to erase or partition the new SSHD, the same old errors: File system formatter failed. Yes, I tired GUID Partition Table, all of the security options, etc.
Please. Any light that you can throw at this issue, I'll be very grateful for. BTW, the new SSHD is recognized and the SMART Status says: Verified.
Any ideas on *** is going on?
Thanks in advance!
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), i7, 8GB RAM

After I erase the hard drive (I assume one pass of writing zeros is good enough, 7 passes not needed?) do I turn off the laptop, then turn on and insert the Install Disk? Will there be a prompt telling me when to put in the disk? Or do I put in the disc right after erasing?
One pass is fine. If you've previously backed up your hard drive to an external hard drive using SuperDuper!, which is what I use and recommend, or another program, if it created a bootable drive, you want to boot off of it, bring up SuperDuper! and copy the drive back to the internal hard drive. SuperDuper also makes the drive bootable. When done, reboot, and you should be all set. If you're using Time Machine, you'll want to install the operating system, then restore the Time Machine backup. SuperDuper! is available from http://www.shirt-pocket.com/superduper/superduperdescription.html
Finally- should I update the OS? Is there a problem with the newest update that caused this crash, or was it just a spurious glitch/bad luck?
I've been running 10.5.8 for awhile with no issues, and would recommend moving to it.

Similar Messages

Hard Drive errors after update attempt

I have a Macbook with Mac OSX 10.5.7. 2.2 GHz Intel core duo 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Western Digital 320GB Hard drive
I attempted updating to the newest version and the computer froze part way through. When I tried to restart I got the daisy wheel running on the grey screen, but would not go further. So i put in the Install Disc, and hit power button and shift key. I got as far as Installer, but when I got the window that asked where to install the OS, there were no choices in the window.
I then removed the disc and tried to boot up, which it did. All the data is there, but I did lose my desktop customization. All applications launch OK (I have tried about a third) except Safari. Safari will not launch.
Based on another post in the forum, i went to Disk Utility and tried to Repair the disk. It failed due to a "Invalid Node Structure". So I tried to Repair Disk Permissions (also based on a forum post). That ran OK, but now the Repair Disk button is grayed out. And when I try to Verify Disk, I get the following:
SMART Status is verified, Partition Map Scheme is GUID.
In the History Window:
Performing Live Verification
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume
Checking Extents Overflow file
Checking Catalog file
(the next three lines are in red letters)
Invalid Node Structure
The volume MacHD needs to be repaired
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed
I have also found that there is no longer an administrator for the computer. It is actually my daughter's, and both she and I have (used to have) administrator privileges. Now in Accounts we are both listed as Standard users. I tried to update software. When asked to give my password, it said I was not an administrator (Using the correct password). Neither would my daughter's password work. The laptop does not think we are administrators.
So now the computer is running, and all data is still on it. But I cannot launch Safari. And I cannot update software (as there is no administrator).
(I have seen some posts suggesting third party software which may fix my disk. But they cost $100 and I can buy a new hard drive for 60 to 80.)
Has anyone a clue as to what went wrong? More important- does anyone know how to fix it??
Many thanks in advance.
Mark

After I erase the hard drive (I assume one pass of writing zeros is good enough, 7 passes not needed?) do I turn off the laptop, then turn on and insert the Install Disk? Will there be a prompt telling me when to put in the disk? Or do I put in the disc right after erasing?
One pass is fine. If you've previously backed up your hard drive to an external hard drive using SuperDuper!, which is what I use and recommend, or another program, if it created a bootable drive, you want to boot off of it, bring up SuperDuper! and copy the drive back to the internal hard drive. SuperDuper also makes the drive bootable. When done, reboot, and you should be all set. If you're using Time Machine, you'll want to install the operating system, then restore the Time Machine backup. SuperDuper! is available from http://www.shirt-pocket.com/superduper/superduperdescription.html
Finally- should I update the OS? Is there a problem with the newest update that caused this crash, or was it just a spurious glitch/bad luck?
I've been running 10.5.8 for awhile with no issues, and would recommend moving to it.

Hard drive failed after update. Advise needed.

First the system hangs. Then it took a long time to boot up. Finally, after a few rounds, the question mark folder appeared on boot up.
I command r boot it. Sometimes it says disk has a hardware problem and smart status failing. Sometimes it is ok, but cannot erase last block on formatting. I tried to reinstall OS, but it couldn't find the disk for installing.
Is this really a hardware issue? I'm taking my mac to a reseller tomorrow. Should I be expecting to buy a new hard disk?
Appreciate any help or advise.
MacBook Pro 13" mid 2012.

If it's in warranty have it done at the Apple Store. If you are doing it yourself:
Install Mavericks, Lion, Mountain Lion on a New HDD/SDD
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your external hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Macintosh Hard Drive Hidden after update

I installed the iTunes 7.4.1 update and the Compatibility Update for QuickTime 7.2. Then I restarted my computer and now my Macintosh Hard Drive is hidden- its not on my desktop and its not in the sidebar of a Finder window even though in the Finder preferences I have the checkboxes checked to show Hard disks in both places. When I try to access the drive by opening a Finder window and command-clicking the folder in the top center of the window, it shows the Macintosh HD grayed out. It also doesn't appear in the "User Name's" Computer level. My computer is running fine other than that. Any ideas?
Thanks a Million.

There's an active bug report on the problem of drives (not to mention the occasional folder) becoming invisible. I don't think the engineers yet have a handle on the problem. You are the first person I've heard of for whom the problem predicably recurs. Please send feedback:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html/
Tell them exactly what you did before the problem appeared and what you have done since. Maybe your information will help solve the riddle. You may not hear back, but every little bit of extra data can help them figure it out.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Bluetooth Mouse Driver Issues after updating to SP1

Greetings!
After upgrading to SP1 my bluetooth mouse stopped working. The dongle I'm using is being detected fine, and when I scan for the mouse I can find it, but when I try to connect to it I get a "Locate driver" message from Vista. When I let it scan for the driver it is unable to find anything compatible, so when I tell it to scan the CD that came with it again it finds nothing. It's like the Bluetooth HID Device driver is no longer working.
This is the dongle:
http://us.kensington.com/html/9403.html
This is the mouse:
http://us.kensington.com/html/12635.html
Some of the things I've tried:
Uninstalling and reinstalling the WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack. I've tried using Vista's Bluetooth stack instead of the WIDCOMM stack, with no luck.
I've also tried the Bluesoleil drivers with no luck there either, in fact those seem to break the dongle and Vista is no longer able to detect it.
I've tried the install CD that came with the mouse, but it seems that is for Windows XP only.
I've tried another Bluetooth mouse that produces the exact same results, with a CD that is for Vista.
Anyone else having this issue?

Just wanted to update this with an answer.
I'm pretty sure that running vsp1cln.exe was the reason why my Bluetooth and iPod stopped working. I reinstalled Vista and upgraded to SP1 without running that tool to clean up the install files and both bluetooth and my iPod are working again. It must clean up the driver files that they were using and the new files are not compatible or something. Not sure really.

Acer Aspire V5-531 Dolby Advanced Audio driver issues after updating to Windows 10

After upgrading to Windows 10 I was getting an error on loading Windows media player which indicated that: The current Dolby audio driver version is 7.2.8000.17 and the softwareapplication expects driver version 7.2.7000.7. Please install a valid driver and application combination Although Windows 10 has probably updated your driver to the latest version of the driver (you can check this in device manager for yourself) but the Dolby Advanced Audio V2 application which was supplied by Acer (not Dolby) has not been updated to the corresponding latest version. So, you need an updated version of Dolby Advanced Audio V2 (Version 7.2.8000.17) Acer have not published an updated version. Looked all over the site coudn't find it. My solution was to remove the error was to uninstall the Acer version and replace with the correct version downloaded from the Lenovo site below. http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds028945 I'd wanted to make sure it was the same software, so I tried without uninstalling first and it refused as a version was already installed. So that was reassuring. Thanks for the archived post below pointing me to the softwre on the Lenoveo site at the Lenovo site. I'd looked all over the Acer site for it. http://community.acer.com/t5/2013-Archives/how-i-solved-the-dolby-realtek-audio-problem/td-p/103157 There are warnings on the page above not to use the Lenovo version of the software because of 'tuning', but my audio sounds just as good as before and the error is now gone. Without it the Dolby would have been uninstalled so it seemed a reasonable punt to me. Disappointed in Acer, will buy a Lenovo next time...

Hi, The only driver that ever worked properly with Dolby was the driver for The V5-552G on windows 8 (not 8.1) This will work on your computer even if different model... the new driver on the Acer site for winodws 10 has not work either. So the one I´m using is: Audio_Realtek_6.0.1.6878_W8x64_A To Download the Driver and Software needed Go to: http://www.acer.co.in/ac/en/IN/content/drivers and Go: Ultra-Thin / Aspire / V5-552G To get dolby to work: 1. Uninstall the current driver, and any software related to it (the dolby software) 2. restart 3. Install the driver for windows 8 (in my case it never installs dolby automatically, I´ll explain how to do it manually below) 4. Restart twice (yes, I always had to restart twice after the install otherwise manually installing dolby would not work and I got an error when trying to run the install) 5. In the driver folders you downloaded and unzipped go to the folder "PCEE4" and run "DolbyAdvancedAudio.msi" 6.If you dont get the "Install PCEE" error, restart and you should be able to enjoy dolby (when its not acting up). If you get the error then you may have not followed the instructions properly. Go back to step 1 Good luck

How do I find my tab history? I had hard drive issues and when I launched my browser after getting it back their was no "restore session" option. I know a tab history is kept, just don't remember where or how to exercise it. Thanks

Question
How do I find my tab history? I had hard drive issues and when I launched my browser after getting it back their was no "restore session" option. I know a tab history is kept, just don't remember where or how to exercise it. Thanks

Firefox 4 saves the previous session automatically, so there is no longer need for the dialog asking if you want to save the current session. 
Use "File > Exit" or "Firefox > Exit" if you want to restore multiple windows. 
You can use "Firefox > History > Restore Previous Session" to get the previous session at any time. 
There is also a "Restore Previous Session" button on the default about:home Home page.
Another possibility is to use:
* [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Menu_differences Firefox (Tools) > Options] > General > Startup: "When Firefox Starts": "Show my windows and tabs from last time"

Disappearing Hard Drive Space After Yosemite Update

After installing OS X Yosemite my hard drive space has dwindled to basically nothing, rendering my computer useless. I had at least 50 gb (maybe more) of hard drive space before updating from mavericks to yosemite. Now, after using my computer for 30 mins or less I get an error message saying that my storage space is low. After a restart I will get about 600 mb of storage but then the cycle repeats. Since I have upgraded to Yosemite I have not saved or downloaded any large files but there is a significant amount of storage space (104 gb) used in the other category. It is not consistent with my usage. I initially had file vault encryption turned on but I thought maybe that was the cause of my disappearing hard drive space so I turned file encryption off and still no luck.
Please Help!
Problem description:
Hard drive space disappearing after installing OS X Yosemite.
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated February 11, 2015 at 2:44:51 AM CST
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Hardware Information: ℹ️
 MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) (Technical Specifications)
 MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro10,2
 1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
 8 GB RAM Not upgradeable
 BANK 0/DIMM0
 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
 BANK 1/DIMM0
 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
 Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
 Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n
 Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 427
Video Information: ℹ️
 Intel HD Graphics 4000
 Color LCD spdisplays_2560x1600Retina
System Software: ℹ️
 OS X 10.10.1 (14B25) - Time since boot: 0:34:43
Disk Information: ℹ️
 APPLE SSD SM256E disk0 : (251 GB)
 EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
 Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
 Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 249.77 GB (645 MB free) (Low!)
 Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB Online
USB Information: ℹ️
 Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
 Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
 Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
 Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
 Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
 Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
 /Applications/Parallels Desktop.app
 [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.hidhook (8.0 18354.823166) [Click for support]
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 [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.netbridge (8.0 18354.823166) [Click for support]
 [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.usbconnect (8.0 18354.823166) [Click for support]
 [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.vnic (8.0 18354.823166) [Click for support]
 /Library/Application Support/Roxio
 [not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (1.7) [Click for support]
 /System/Library/Extensions
 [not loaded] com.deepseasoftware.driver.CDSDAudioCaptureSupport (1.3) [Click for support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
 [loaded] com.coupons.coupond.plist [Click for support]
 [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
 [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
 [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
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 [running] com.synium.cleanappdaemon.plist [Click for support]
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User Launch Agents: ℹ️
 [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist [Click for details]
 [loaded] com.yahoo.YahooContactSyncAgent.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
 Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
 CitrixFMDPrefPlugin UNKNOWN (missing value)
 Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)
 Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX Application Hidden (/Applications/Canon Utilities/IJ Network Scanner Selector EX/Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
 LogitechHarmony: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]
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 MeetingJoinPlugin: Version: Unknown - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
 o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.40.2.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]
 Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
 Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.0.11 [Click for support]
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User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
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Safari Extensions: ℹ️
 Open in Internet Explorer
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
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Time Machine: ℹ️
 Skip System Files: NO
 Auto backup: YES
 Volumes being backed up:
 Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.77 GB Disk used: 249.12 GB
 Destinations:
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 Total size: 2.00 TB
 Total number of backups: 4
 Oldest backup: 2014-11-30 04:17:38 +0000
 Last backup: 2015-02-11 07:50:52 +0000
 Size of backup disk: Excellent
 Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 249.77 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
 13% WindowServer
 12% com.apple.WebKit.Networking
 6% Safari
 4% hidd
 2% com.apple.preference.security.remoteservice
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
 215 MB Safari
 103 MB WindowServer
 77 MB Dropbox
 69 MB mds_stores
 69 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
 2.53 GB Free RAM
 4.06 GB Active RAM
 988 MB Inactive RAM
 1.02 GB Wired RAM
 1.63 GB Page-ins
 0 B Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
 Feb 11, 2015, 02:09:09 AM Self test - passed
 Feb 11, 2015, 01:12:53 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CleanApp Daemon_2015-02-11-011253_[redacted].crash
 Feb 9, 2015, 06:34:50 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CleanApp Daemon_2015-02-09-183450_[redacted].crash
 Feb 8, 2015, 11:50:38 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-02-08-235038_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Click for details]
 Feb 8, 2015, 05:46:48 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-02-08-054648_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Click for details]
 Feb 11, 2015, 01:22:51 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/backupd_2015-02-11-012251_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Click for details]

You are too low on drive space for iDVD to run properly. It is recommended that you try to have about 15-20 GB free for the application to run. See if you can delete anything to free up more space. Or, move more of your files to your external drive. iDVD needs to be on your computer's drive, so don't move it, or any of the iLife applications to your external drive.
You can create iMovies on an external drive, move your entire iPhoto and iTunes libraries to external drives, but I find iDVD works better if I create its projects on my main drive. I save all of my iDVD projects as disk image files and then move those files to my external drive for saving my projects. This allows me to delete the original iDVD project and the original iMovie project used in it, which gives more free space on my drives.

Regain hard drive space after deleting partition

Hello all,
I had a lot of issues after updating to Snow Leopard so I ended up doing a clean install of SL rather than the update to fix all the issues. It works great now with no lag or any issues of the sort. However I was following a tutorial on how to do the clean install and it had me first partition the hard drive then install. Later I went to erase the old partition of the hard drive and now I cannot regain the space with the new partition. (P.S. sorry if I am not explaining this well.)
Here is a picture showing my issue. 30 gb of my hard drive is just greyed out and I cannot figure out how to recover that.
Thank you guys if you can help me resolve this!

I don't think you can without starting from scratch and re-partitioning the drive with 1 partition.
Had the unused space been at the bottom of the window, I understand you could have dragged the divider down to regain the space, however it doesn't work dragging the top up.

Incredibly slow MacBook, Internal Hard Drive issues...

Good morning everybody! I'm apologize if this post is extremely wordy...
I am extremely baffled by a particular issue with a MacBook 2.0GHz C2D which belongs to a friend of mine. The warranty is expired.
_Brief history:_
Several months ago, this MacBook could not find a bootable volume. The drive would not mount when booting from an external FireWire hard drive. It would not mount when the MacBook was put in Target Disk Mode and connected to another Mac. When booting from an external USB hard drive or with my MacBook Pro connected to the MacBook via Target Disk Mode, the MacBook booted up quickly. I came to the conclusion that the internal hard drive must have failed and needed to be replaced. Ultimately, the data was not recoverable from this drive.
I then proceeded to swap out the defective Apple OEM Seagate hard drive with a known working Apple OEM Fujitsu hard drive. When booting from the Leopard Install DVD, the MacBook would boot incredibly slow, but would finally reach the Installer Language screen. When proceeding to install Leopard, the drive would take a very long time to have data written to it, and ultimately the install failed. I removed the new hard drive from the MacBook and placed it in an external USB enclosure, attached it to the MacBook and booted from the Leopard Install DVD. Leopard would install successfully. I removed the hard drive from the enclosure and reinstalled it the MacBook. When booting from the freshly installed OS, the MacBook would take a very long time to boot. The MacBook is extremely slow!!!
I checked the Activity Monitor to ensure CPU & System Memory Usage was not going crazy. All Processes where normal with adequate CPU & Memory headroom.
I took the MacBook apart thinking that the SATA Controller Cable might be loose. No, it was firmly in place. I reassembled the MacBook and booted it up again. Still incredibly slow!
Finally, after several reboot attempts, the MacBook would book up quickly and operation was perfect. I applied all updates and continued testing the MacBook with great success. Gave my friend his MacBook back and he was grateful.
_Now for the kicker..._
My friend brought me his MacBook a week ago complaining that the MacBook was operating extremely slow (much like when I was initially testing it before). I verified the MacBook was slow when I tried using it. I tried several reboots and then it would get stuck on the gray Apple with spinning gear.
I tried booting into Single User Mode, but it gets stuck on "Waiting for root device"
I put the MacBook in Target Disk Mode and connected it to my G5 2.0GHz Dual Core. The hard drive would mount quickly on the G5 and I used Disk Utility to create a Restore Image. The disk operation would perform normally and the image would be created successfully.
I then partitioned the MacBook's hard drive when connected to the G5, ejected and proceeded to attempt OS reinstall. No dice! The hard drive is not even detected by the Disk Utility on the Leopard Install DVD.
Finally after several reattempts, the hard drive is recognized, but is extremely slow when trying to reinstall...and again, ultimately install fails. Using Disk Utility from Leopard Install DVD, the hard drive fails to unmount when I try formatting.
I don't have Apple Hardware Test disc for the MacBook or Apple Service Diagnostics disc for this model. Running TechTool Pro shows hardware to be okay, disk controller onboard the Fujitsu drive is okay, but running SMART & Surface Scan takes a long, long time (which I'm certain will ultimately error out). Running Drive Genius takes a long, long time as well.
Conclusion:
I think the SATA Controller Cable is defective. I can't think of anything else that would cause disk errors or performance issues like this. Your input is truly appreciated!

Even though no one responded to my post, I thought I'd share the resolution with the entire Apple community. I hope this information will be helpful to some of you with MacBooks or MacBook Pros that may be running painfully slow or may be exhibiting hard drive issues because your machine won't recognize the boot drive or fails to properly boot on a perfectly healthy S.M.A.R.T. verified hard drive. It just might be the hard drive connector/cable. Here it goes...
I visited my local Apple Retail Store and asked a "Genius" at the Genius Bar about this issue and told him my thoughts about a possible failed hard drive connector/cable. First, he didn't even know what a hard drive connector was! Then, he arrogantly stated that he never heard of such a thing and that these cables never fail. Finally, he blatantly dispelled this as a possibility.
On the contrary with my experience, I have had many failed PATA controller cables that required replacement when supporting the desktop PC's at work. I have personally owned and supported many Apple manufactured laptops and desktops and have never encountered this issue on a Mac...until this MacBook!
So, after looking at the Service Manual for the MacBook, I went over to my local Apple Authorized Service Provider and purchased the Hard Drive Connector Apple Part #922-7579. I replaced the original cable, reassembled and proceeded to boot the MacBook with the Leopard DVD installer. The Fujitsu drive was immediately recognized and was able to be formatted and Leopard installed without incident. The MacBook boots off the internal hard drive as normal again and works nice and fast again.
Thank you all for your time!
:D

Hard drive issues

Hi all. I'm looking for some help with my late 08 macbook.
I've recently installed snow leopard, and I've been having some problems, and I'm worried about the hard drive. Anytime I try to either download new data to the hard drive (ie. software update/transfer of files from external hard drive) it freezes after a short while, and the drive begins to make a strange noise. Not quite a clicking noise but a loud dull almost grounding noise with some form of clicking or like a lever closing 2-3 times. The noise continues, and the computer completely freezes.
I've re-installed the osx and done a restore from a previous version (leopard), and the problem re-appears. I've repaired the permissions and the disk. Whenever I repair the disk it states the disk is ok. I can use the computer, and no problems until I try to load something onto the hard-drive.
Any ideas?? Is my hard drive shot?
Thanks very much

Hmm can't say from that if your hard drive is shot. If you have an external hard drive big enough (my late 08 macbook has a 160GB hard drive) I'd suggest either using Time Machine to make a backup of your data or Disk Utility's restore feature to copy the data to the drive.
After you do that (or if you're not able) try booting in single user mode (holding cmd+S on startup) and typing the command "fsck -fy" (no quotes) this should check for problems with the filesystem structure and repair them. If it gives you messages like "Volume cannot be fixed", keep trying. It often will yield a different result.
If this does not solve the problem, I'd make sure you have your data backed up, boot with the OS install disk, and reformat the hard drive.
Sidenote- my 160GB drive isn't quite cutting it, so I ordered ($53) a 7200RPM 320GB notebook drive for it last night. I'd consider that, too, if you're going to be reformatting anyway.
Best of luck!

Permissions Issue, Colour Wheel, Hard Drive Issue??

Hi!
I have had issues with my mid 2009 MBP recently and I'm wondering what the best way to fix them would be.
First off, I have some major permissions issues with my accounts. I am using 3 different users regualrly on the same machine and needed to access files from the home folder so I changed them a long time ago, and am not sure how to fix that. I have repaired the permissions countless times in the disk utility and it seems like there's always loads more to do each time. When I varify the disk, it says its all okay.
Secondly, I have had the machine freeze on me several times while doing very little on it. This happened awhile ago, and thought that it was just the permisions thing and so I did that again, and it started working better, for awhile. It would go a few days or weeks before doing the same thing, sometimes not even getting past the apple logo on startup before freezing. This makes me think it may be a hard drive issue???????
This morning, I tried dozens of times to boot, with no success at all..... until about the 25th time when it miraculasly booted. I have run permissions repair a few more times and it seems to be working okay at the moment, but the problem seems to be happening more often over time.
To complicate matters, I am traveling at the moment and will not be home for several months. I purchased an external harddrive last night and was able to successfully back up my data.
Question 1: Is it the permissions that are causing these problems, or is it related to something else. The computer seems to work fine when its working, and then once in awhile, decides its not going to do anything.
Question 2: Would upgrading to Lion (currently running 10.6.8) fix the permissions issues or just carry them forward? I would like to consolidate the 3 users into one, if that would solve it. Does the migration utility preserve permissions or does it give you a brand new start?
Question 3: If neither solving the permissions or the OS upgrade would fix the problem and it does need a new harddrive, is it possible to buy one and install it myself? I do not have apple care left on this machine and am on a very tight budget. I am used to taking things apart and all that as part of my job and it seems simple enough. Where can you buy a replacement??
Hopefully someone out there will be able to help me out on this one.
Cheers!!!!
Brian

bgroot422 wrote:
First off, I have some major permissions issues with my accounts. I am using 3 different users regularly on the same machine and needed to access files from the home folder so I changed them a long time ago, and am not sure how to fix that. I have repaired the permissions countless times in the disk utility and it seems like there's always loads more to do each time. When I verify the disk, it says its all okay.
Disk Utility permissions are separate from User account permissions.
This link is how to fix them
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2181549?start=0&tstart=0
Disk Utility will always show something to be needing repair, but that's ok
Apple supoort doc.
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?locale=da_DK
Verify Disk is good, that's a good thing.
To complicate matters, I am traveling at the moment and will not be home for several months. I purchased an external hard drive last night and was able to successfully back up my data.
Your data is backed up, hopefully not with TimeMachine alone, but if you did, then get another drive and backup data manually to that as well. If the TM drive gets messed up, it's a pain to get your data off of it.
Question 1: Is it the permissions that are causing these problems, or is it related to something else. The computer seems to work fine when its working, and then once in awhile, decides its not going to do anything.
Well you could call Apple for replacement 10.6.x disks, and just reinstall 10.6 and bundled programs, but this can kick out kext files out of the /System/Library/Extensions folder installed by some third party software.
This method fixes OS X, but doesn't touch your files or most programs.
Nor will this method fix your Users accounts if the issue is in there.
A creation of a new user, then deletion of the others, return files from backup (set permissions) will fix User folder issues if the above user permissions fix doesn't work.
(Of course you could wipe the drive from the 10.6 disk, but you have to install all software again)
Would upgrading to Lion (currently running 10.6.8) fix the permissions issues or just carry them forward?
No, you don't want to install Lion, it won't fix those issues in User folders, not only that Lion has it's own issues and doesn't work with a lot of older software etc. No use clusterfscking a already bad situtation when it's seems it's only localized to the User accounts.
I would like to consolidate the 3 users into one, if that would solve it.
Yes that could very nicely and tidy up things in the process.
What you do is transfer all files to one regular powered storage hard drive.
(Don't use/disconnect the TimeMachine drive for this as it preserves the users seperated and you don't want all those users back restoring with Migration Assistant)
Create the New User on the machine as Admin, log into it and delete all the other Users, transfer all your files back from the regular storage drive, changing all the permissions to yourself before placing them into their respective folders as they will have three different permissions.
Notes:
If you have a extensive iTunes playlists on one User (say #1), then create the new user with that same name (will require some work, create User 4, delete Users 1-3, reboot, create User 1, delete User 4) then transfer your iTunes folder to Music of that User 1 (same name as before). This will preserve the pathnames of your song locations and your playlists will be preserved.
(before you ask, no you can't combine playlists)
Also if you have photo's in iPhoto Library, you have to right click on it and "show package contents" inside is a folder called Originals, copy them out and import into the iPhoto of the User #1.
Does the migration utility preserve permissions or does it give you a brand new start?
Yes it preserves user permissions, no it doesn't give you a brand new start. Only a fresh install, creation of new users and then just transferring of files does that.
Nothing about TimeMachine or Migration Assistant gives one a "fresh start", it's if hosed, so is your restore.
If you want that sort of pristine protection, you need to clone your ideal boot partition/drive using Carbon Copy Cloner (free/donationware) occasionally as a hold the option key bootable drive, then you can erase and reverse clone the pristine saved clone.
One can also update the clone on occasion, this way keeping the clone pristine.
I maintain 3 clones time dated, even have my boot drive partitioned 50/50 and auto-cloned, this way I have two boot partitions on the road and two externals at home.
I never use TimeMachine, it's not bootable (well it is on 10.7.2 only to restore though)

I have a free agent desk 500GB external hard drive. Since updating my iMac OS to mountain lion recently, it will no longer backup, stating "an error occurred while creating the backup folder". Can anyone help me with this?

I have a free agent desk 500 GB external hard drive. Since updating my iMac OS to Mountain Lion it no longer backs up through Time Maching like it did in the past. Now, after completing its work it says, "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder." I cannot find any sites that help me fix this. Do I need to purchase a new external hard drive?

Hi Aaron,
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imaging something not being covered there.

Has anyone else been having hard drive issues with 13" MacBook Pro barely a year old?

Has anyone else been having hard drive issues with 13" MacBook Pro barely a year old?

Yes, BUT...
... there are many problems that are really easy to eliminate by replacing the Hard drive, including ones that have nothing to do with actual Drive Hardware failure. These include corrupted install of Mac OS X, its EFI partition, clobbered partition tables, or the appearance of Bad Blocks in a critical area.
Any of these problems can sometimes be eliminated by re-initializing the entire drive and writing Zeroes, and re-installing from scratch. The trouble is, this process takes hours to complete, and is not guaranteed to be successful -- you may still need a new drive after all that effort.
I learned from my Plumber that consumers have no appetite for solutions that might work, and detest return visits for any related problems whatsoever. You or your friend may have had your drive replaced, not because it actually failed, but because the situation was troublesome, and the provider thought you would not tolerate anything less than a crisp, complete fix on the first attempt. And based on the cost of technician time, it may have even been cheaper that way.

P7N SLi Platinum - Network & (large) Hard Drive Issues

Hello, everyone. I'm hoping someone can help me out here (though I suspect I'm screwed). Several nights ago, I was sitting at my machine playing some Tera when suddenly I got a blue screen. They've been a pretty rare occurrence for this system, but I realize that from time to time, they happen, so I wasn't all that concerned. I just rebooted and figured everything would be back to normal. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Windows (7 - 64bit) took a noticeably longer time to pull up the full desktop and I noticed an error condition on the network icon in the system tray.
Naturally, I pulled up my network settings and Windows told me that I was on an "Unidentified Network" with "No network access." I figured it was possible that I'd nudged the cable or something, so I looked at it and noticed that, instead of a flashing green light on the Ethernet port, it was flashing orange (this board does normally flash green, right?). I changed ports on the switch and when that didn't help, I changed cables. Still nothing. I installed the latest nForce drivers and still nothing.
That's about the time I noticed another problem. I pulled up Windows Explorer to look for something on my data drive (3TB Seagate) and after an inordinately long time, I realized that it wasn't going to come up. I rebooted again and went into the BIOS settings and, to my horror, discovered that the BIOS, which was showing the drive at its correct capacity before, was now showing it as 800GB.
I have NO idea what happened. It's possible there was a power surge (there was a storm in the distance), but the only two things that are affected are the network and that one hard drive. I updated to the latest BIOS and that didn't help at all, either. So... any ideas? Or am I just going to have to track down a new MB?
Thanks,
Sam

Far as I know, that board is not capable of properly supporting a HDD over 1TB?
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/P7N-SLI-Platinum---P7N-Zilent.html#/?div=BIOS
You can try a power off, PSU power cord pulled, battery removed, CMOS clear and settings reset.

Hard drive issues after update 10.10.3

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